KEARNEY – The G.W. Frank Museum of History and Culture is hosting a free open house 2-4 p.m. June 24 as part of Kearney’s sesquicentennial celebration.
Several descendants of the Frank and Scoutt families will be in attendance, giving members of the public an opportunity to meet these unique individuals and discuss their connections to Kearney’s history. Frank Museum Director April White will deliver brief remarks at 2:30 p.m. and light refreshments will be served.
“Anyone who is interested in history daydreams about meeting historic figures in person, especially ones who are so locally connected to where you live and work. While we can’t actually do that in many cases, we sometimes have the exciting opportunity to meet their living relatives,” White said. “We are so fortunate and grateful to the direct descendants of the Frank and Scoutt families for traveling to Kearney to help us celebrate our city’s historic 150th birthday at the museum.”
Located at 2010 University Drive on the west end of the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus, the mansion that now houses the Frank Museum was built in 1890 as the opulent home of land developers George and Phoebe Frank. Among the first electrified houses in the American West, its unique story as a once modern and stylish residence turned private clinic then tuberculosis hospital offers a window into Kearney’s past.
William Scoutt was George Frank’s personal business secretary in the 1880s and 1890s. He helped George Frank build much of his business empire, making Scoutt an important figure in Kearney’s history.
In addition to the open house, guided tours of the Frank Museum will be available from 1-3 p.m. that day.
For more information, contact White at 308-865-8273 or whiteac@unk.edu.
